Automatic gate for delivery chutes



S. T. HO YT AND J. S, NAPIER. AUTOMATIC GATE FOR DELIVERY CHUTES.

APPLICATION FILED FEBAZBI I921.

V Patented J fine UNITED STATES: PA ENT-orice SiMES T. HOYVT Ami form s Hemm ya uoni i; E RiT OF WAII;

ASSIGNORS To HAWAIIAN PINEAPPLE COMP-ANY, LIMITED-, OF HONOLULU TERRITORY OF HAWAII.

AUTOMATIC GATE iron smears- Specification of Letters fatent. iPaijentd' June Application'filed' February'28, 1951i Serial as. 448,736.

To all 1072 07721 it may concern p I Be it knownthat we, SIMEs T. HOYT and JOHN S. NAPIER, citizens of the United States, residing at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Gates for Delivery Chutes; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as Wlll enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an automatic gate for delivery chutes for admitting cans or the like on to the tracks of cookers, conveyors, coolers, and other forms of apparatus used in the canning of foods, and is particularly adapted to cooperate with an inclined track of the gravity feed type. V

This particular device forms part of an apparatus for cooking or cooling the foodstuff tob'e canned, wherein said cans containing the foodstuff are caused to travel in a continuous manner, preferably from the bottom of the machine upwardly to the top thereof, and during their course of travel carried backward and forward through theapparatus, and successively ele-' vated from one plane to another by specially designed conveyor mechanism, all of which is covered, in a co-pendingapplication filed' March 28th, 1921, Serial No. 4565,1 17.

It has been demonstrated that the most convenient manner of feeding the cans'to this type of apparatus is by gravity, causing them to roll down an inclined track or chute on to the continuously operated conveyor mechanism employed for conducting the cans through the various types of appa' ratus aforesaid. I One of the chief disadvantages, however,

of this type of feeding mechanism is that the cans, owing to their increased velocity as they reach the bottom of the chute, have a tendency to ride over one another or become jammed upon entering the conveyor mechanism, oftentimes clogging the main apparatus and necessitating the stopping thereof. and resulting in the denting or injuring of the cans. By reason of these va rious difficulties, undesirable delays are incurred and it is necessary'to require the constant attention of the workmen in order to prevent, as far as possible, the frequent occurrence of these heretofore unavoidable ing all of the important advantagesbefore mentioned, yet, at the same time, being simple in operation" and construction, and one that can be conveniently adapted 3 and attached to the conventional type of gravity I or inclined trackapparatus; r A still further and'impo'rtant that by reason of its siIiiplicity -of operation and construction; the liabilityof its becom-' ing disarranged orotherwis'e impaired in *its operation is reduced to a minimumandis practically nil-g 1 l Generally speaking the device comprises" a-p'a-lr of paralle'l arms connected at one end to form'- a substantially ushapeol frame'em bracing an inclined traclf or the 'like ha'ving the free ends .of the frame pivotally se cured at points below the elevated portion of the track and its; closed end properly disposed above the depressed endsflo'f the elevated track; being normally supported in this position by a downwardly extending plate or stop which is adapted to engage, the upwardly extending flanges of the trackway, so'that the cans asthey roll-down the object is inclined track way strike the depending portion of the closed end of the u shaped'w framev and are checked against further movement in this direction.- The supporting rails of the inclined track way are ,fore shortened or cut away suflicient to allow a can to"- drop downwardly off the ends there-' of after. striking the depending portion or check member carried bythejU-shaped j frame.

The inclined track '1 carrying Y the auto matie-gate'is 'positionedjdirectl-y above the lower horizontal track of the apparatus carrying the conveyor, with which the; gate It will be noted thatithe lower end of the check plate member, in its normal position may in some instances be in a plane below the highest point of the cans conveyed along the horizontal track-way of the main appa-. ratus, but owing to thehinged construction of the gate and the curvature of the cans,

said cans will cause the lifting of the gate at the proper time as they come in contact with the check plate member as the cans are picked up and pushed along the horizontal track prior to their entrance into the main apparatus, this elevating of the check plate member and gate under these conditions, however, not interfering in anyway with the efficient normal operation of the gate.

In the accompanying drawings, n Fig. 1 illustrates a plan view of the de- Vlcea I v r i Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, and Fig. 3 is a modification of the closed end construction of the gate. 1 v I Referring to the drawings i. detail, the invention comprises an elongated substan tially U-shapedframe member 1, having a pair of parallel members or arms 2, pivotally secured at their open e nds 3 to a member4 forming one of thesupports of an inclined track 5, said track 5 being disposed or mounted above the horizontal track-way 6, carried upon suitable supports 7, conveniently secured to the longitudinal sills or the like 8 forming the base of the main apparatus, not shown, and in connection with which the invention is adaptedto be used.

The closed end 9 of the U-shaped framel is preferably constructed by a continuation ofthe arms 52, forming a one-piece structure. This U-shaped-frame l is preferably disposed in horizontal position, embracingthe inclined track-way 5, the pivoted ends of said frame being located below theelevated portion of the inclined track 5, and the closed end thereof above the depressed end of said inclined track. Depending from the closed end 9 or" the frame 1 is a check plate or stoplO, the lower end of said check plate 10 adapted to engage and rest on the vertical side flanges 11 of the inclined track 5, the stop or check plate 10 maintaining frame 1 over the U-shaped frame 1 when they strike the stop or-check plate 10, as they are interrupted during their travel down the inclined track-way 5.

The inclined track 5, similar to the horizontal track 6,'is preferably of L-shape, in cross-section, providing supporting-rails 13 for the cans rolling along the track 5 and vertically disposed side flanges 11 for the purpose of confining and guiding said cans in their course of travel along said track.

The'said flanges 11 of the track 0 are continued downwardly towards the horizontal track-way 6 below to act as guides, preventing the lateral motion of the cans, as

they drop from the inclined track-way 5 on to the horizontal track-wayti. The cansupporting track rails 13 of the inclined track 5 are foreshortened at their lower ends 14, providing a space or opening between said lower ends 1 1 and the stop or check plate 10, to allow the. cans to successively drop through said opening on to the horizontal track 6, where they are picked up by suitable conveying elements 15, carried by a chain conveyor of peculiar construction, not shown, which conveyor forms the subject of a co-pending application.

It is to be understood that in the present construction and operation of the device, the same is to be used in connectionwith a double arrangement of horizontal and inclined tracks, requiring merely'a duplication of the improved device. As shown in the drawings, only one device and a single" horizontal and inclined track shown,

which has been done merely for the purpose of convenience in illustration. When these gates are arranged in pairs and adapted to der the lower ends of the inclined track 1 way 5, the inside flange 11 of each inclined track-way is foreshortened, as clearly'shown in Fig. L

-13 ig. 3 shows a modification.ofthe'closed end of the gate, wherein a separate eud'piece 9 is used in place of the one piece construc tion as shown in F 1 and 2; The various other polnts of the device are identical with those shown in the figures aforesaid, the stop or check plate 10 being'secured to the intermediate member 9 in manner similar to the securing thereof to theclosed end 9 of the continuously formed iii-shaped frame 1.

As hereinbefore stated, whenthe gate is at rest or in normal position, the lower end of the check plate or stop 10 is supported on the upper edge of the side flange 11 of the inclinedztrack 5, inclined track 5 engages the check or stop 10 and has its forward motion positively arl-i. can rolling downthe rested thereby. It "is thus preventedfrom shooting out over the cans on the horizontal tr'aclcway 6 belowsaid inclined'track and is further prevented from jumping up over the top of the gate'by the curved guard or hood '12. canfis clean-said can will drop down on to the horizontal track-way 6 below, and if said horizontal track-way is not'clear at this point the can will be held from further-forward motion until'the'obstruction below has passed. v I V TlllS 31381888 eciall advanta eous for t) I t) feeding ca'nsinto the improved canning appa ratus hereinbeforereferred to, in which the cans are caused to roll or be conveyed along horizontal tracks bythe motion of a chain operated besidesaid tracks and pro vl'ded wlth lateralarms, herembefore' indicated at 15, which project over the tracks, engagefthe cans, and push the same in their proper course along said tracks Then the improved gate construction, hereinbefor'e described, is used to feed the cans on tothe horizontal tracks', in conjunction with the" above mentioned chain mejchanism, the regularly spaced arms 15 thereof are continually passing beneath the stop or check plate 10,

and the fact that the gate is'hinged at its upper end allows the lower end with the stopor check plate'to rise and fall as the cans conducted along said horizontal track 1, and its peculiar cooperation with the cans rolling down the inclined track-way 5, and the manner of feeding said cans successively to the track-way below entering the cooker or cooler, to be properly picked up by the continuously moving conveyor without interfering in any way or stopping the conveyor, are highly important features of this very ingenious arrangement, especially well adapted to the general operation of apparatus with which it is associated. The herein described positive arrest of the forward motion of the rolling cans, combined with this equally important feature of lifting, permitting these cans which are caught in the air by the chain, to pass, materially adds to the adaptability and efficiency of the device,

and is the real novelty of the invention and a valuable contribution to the art.

It is important that the hinged member of the gate be so constructed that the stop or check plate 10 shall, be at such an angle to Ifthe space below the arrested thelineof motion o-f the cans'on the inclined track that their forward motionwill be po'si-y tively arrested withoutlifting the-iga-te This will i be accomplished if the stop 10 in its normal po'sitionfis perpendicularly. .dis posedfjtothe direction of motion jofthe aplproaching cans, although it has been found I that it is not absolutely necessary to have the angle exactly as gates withthe stopj arranged at a somewhat lesser angle operate satisfactorily, even'at an angle of 7 5, I

What we claim is:

1., In an automatic gate or feed-regulating device for cans, the combination'withan inclined track, of means disposedacrossfsa d track adapted to arrest the forward rolling motion of the cans th 'ereon,""and,movable means perm'itting th e subsequent vertical] track,

2. In an dropping of said cans fromsai'd: inclined clined track of a vertically movable-member automatic gate or feed-regulating device for cans, the com'blnatlonwlth an 111- disposed across said track-adapted to temporarily arrest the forward-rolling motienoff each can thereon, and means pjermittingcthe' subsequent vertical "droppingfof eachcan from said inclined track;

8, In an automatic gate or'feed-regulatin'g device for cans, the'comblnatio'n with anin-i clined track, of a movable member, a pivotal connection between one end ,of said movable member and; the inclined track, a portion carried by the other end of said member ex} tending across said track adapted to-arrest the forward rolling motion of the cans thereon, and means permitting the subsequent vertical dropping of said cans successively from said inclined track.

4. In an automatic gate or feed-regulating device for cans/the combination with an inclined track, of a movable member embracing said inclined track, a pivotal connection between one end of said member and the elevated portion of said inclined track, a stop carried by the other end ofsaid member-extending across the depressed portion of said inclined track "adapted to arrest the forward rolling motion of each can thereon,

and means permitting the subsequent vertical dropping of each can from said inclined track.

5. In an automatic device for cans, the combination with an inclined track, of a movable member embracing said inclinedtra'clga pivotal connection between one end of said member and the elevated portion of said inclined track, a

check plate or stop carried by theother end of said member extending across the de-] pressed portion of the inclined track adapted gate or feed-regulating to arrest the forward rolling motion of each i can thereon, said inclined track comprising can-supporting rails and vertically disposed flanges, the can-supporting rails being'c'ut awayor foreshortened adjacent the check plate or stop, providing a clearance permitting the vertical dropping of each can after being arrested by the check plate or stop.

6. Inan automatic gate or feed-regulating deviceior' cans, the combination with an in clined track, of a substantially U-shaped member embracing said inclined track, pivotal connections between the ends of the legs of said U-shaped member and the ele vated portion of said inclined track, a check 'plate or stop carriedby the closed end of said U-shaped member extending across said inclined track, said check plate or stop comprising a straight lower portion and a curved upper portion adapted to arrest the forward motion of each can rolling downthe inclined trackysaid inclined track comprising can-supporting rails and vertically disposed flanges, the can-supporting rails being cut away or foreshortened adjacent the check plate or'stop, providing a clear- 'ance therebetween permitting the subserolling down said inclined track, and means permitting the subsequent vertical dropping of said cans successively from the inclined track on to'the horizontal trackway.

8. In an automatic gate or feed-regulating device for cans, the combination with an inclined track, of a substantially U-shaped member embracing said inclined track, the ends of the legs of said U-shaped member being pivotally secured at points below the elevated portion of the track, a check plate or stop carried by the closed end of said U- shaped member extending acrossand disposed above the depressed end of the inclined track, said check plate or stop com-. prising a straight lower portion and a curved upper portion adapted to arrest the forward motion of each can rolling down the inclined track, said inclined track comprising can-supporting rails and vertically disposed flanges, the can-supporting rails being cut away or foreshortened adjacent the check plate or stop, providing a clearance therebetween, permitting the subsequent vertical dropping of each can after being arr'estedby the check plate or stop.

In testimony whereof we afiix our signatures. I

SIMES T. HOYT. JOHN s. NAPIER. 

